Save Money by Eating at Home

Americans Spend a Fortune

The average American spends over $70,000 in their lifetime on dining outside of the home.

And over 47% of Americans dine alone. The typical American spends $20 per meal eating out and does so on the average of 5.8 times per week. That is a lot of money for a country where almost half eat alone.

In fact, American’s are spending money they themselves do not have, especially when 69% of Americans do not have $1,000 in their savings account. Why do so many eat out?

*Ease of eating out

*Busy schedules

*Lack of preparing meals

*Poor time management

What can be done to help a country that already struggles with debt and a rising obesity problem? How can a family save money and also improve their health?

The answer is simple, if you don’t have the money to spend, don’t eat out, but instead learn how to eat at home.

Save Money By Eating At Home​

Food does not have to be complicated and preparing meals should not be a major task. However, for some reason it tends to be avoided for a variety of reasons. Below are six simple steps to help you save money by eating at home.

How to Start Eating at Home

1. Prepare a list of foods that your family eats and that can be heated up for leftovers at work or home.

The goal is to fill your family members stomach with healthy and nutritious food without spending a ton of money.

Keep it simple. Don’t go overboard by listing foods that will take hours to prepare.

2. Prepare a menu

Create a master list of the meals that your family will eat and post it somewhere visible. This step alone is a move in the right direction toward saving money. By planning a menu, you will need a calendar, list of foods that your family eats, and an empty menu.

4. Invest in the proper containers

Invest in some quality food storage containers that can be frozen, packed in a lunch, are durable, are dishwasher safe, and can be heated in a microwave. For years I have used Mason jars or Anchor Hocking glass resealable containers for my husband’s lunches.

ANCHOR HOCKING

5. Consider the savings

It may overwhelming at first, especially if you are used to eating out and not preparing your own food. However, if you have the goal of cutting down on the money you spend by eating at home: consider the savigns. Though the savings will seem small at first, eventually they will begin to add up making this new endeavor worthwhile.

Trust me your pocketbook, bank account, and waistline will thank you.

6. Be realistic

Take small steps at first. Do what you can. Tweak the plan until it becomes comfortable for you. Maybe you still choose one day to eat out. Or maybe you have buy pre-cut veggies and prepared additions for your meal.

The whole point of eating at home is to save money and spend more time with your family. Don’t stress yourself out to the point that you give up all together and revert back to your old ways. It has been said that it takes 21 days in order for something to become a habit. Give this a month and look for great results at the end.

Final notes of encouragement

Ladies, this may seem absolutely impossible to implement into your routine, but it is doable. Remember that as the keeper of our home, especially those of us living on one income while our husband works; that it is important to be frugal minded.

Learning how to manage our money, cutting corners whenever we can, and cooking at home will be a huge blessing to our family. Not only do we do show that we are good stewards of what the Lord has given us, but we are also teaching common sense and practical living tips to our children. Our children will learn how to become more content, the more economical we can be.